Thomas Goltz, an American journalist who covered the Khojaly tragedy, passed away

Thomas Goltz, a famous American military journalist who wrote a book about the First Karabakh War and the Khojaly tragedy, has died, according to Azerbaijan in Focus, reporting Oxu.az.

Thomas Goltz was born on October 11, 1954, in Japan. He grew up in North Dakota, USA, and graduated from New York University with a master’s degree in Middle Eastern studies. Tomas Goltz worked as a journalist in Turkey and post-Soviet countries for 15 years. During this period, he wrote about the events that took place in hot spots in his books: the Khojaly tragedy was written about in the book “Azerbaijan Diary” published in 1998, the first Chechen war in “Chechen Diary”, and the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict in “Georgian Diary”.

Thomas Goltz, who was received by the great leader Heydar Aliyev many times, was put on the list of undesirable persons and banned from entering Armenia because he conveyed the truths of Azerbaijan to the world during the First Karabakh War. As he proudly noted, he was recognized as a friend of Azerbaijan and Heydar Aliyev in many countries of the world, including America, where he lived.

The book “Chechen Diary” was published in 2003 and translated into Turkish in 2005. “Georgia Diary” was published in 2006.

Thomas Goltz spoke fluently in many languages, including Turkish, Azerbaijani, German, Russian, Arabic, and Persian.

In 2020, he was awarded the “Honorary Doctor” degree of ADA University for his contribution to peace and reconciliation in Azerbaijan and the Caucasus region.

Goltz died on July 28, 2023, in Livingston, Montana, USA, where he lived, at the age of 69.